Don Cox: Inaugural Conklin Award Winner

It is not customary for first-time award events to live up to their hype or be completely successful. All indications seem to point to the inaugural presentation of the Conklin Award as being a noted exception. The event was held on April 26, 2002 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and was attended by well over 100 people from all over the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Africa.

The first Conklin Award event was made even more special by the participation of the Conklin family, informative video presentations, and the presence of several of Dr. Jim Conklin’s wildlife trophies.

The premier Conklin Award was presented to Mr. Donald G. Cox for his lifetime dedication of pursuing the toughest-to-obtain big game animals of the world and his contributions to wildlife conservation. With more than 70 worldwide wild sheep to his credit, the Big Five, tons of goats, ibex, and markhor, hard-to-get spiral-horned antelope, many bears, and several rainforest duikers, the first recipient was more than deserving. Mr. Cox was also a very good friend of Dr. Conklin. The award itself was a customized piece done by Rick Taylor, who has since been commissioned to create a trophy to be used for future presentations.